Oppose Article V Constitutional Convention
WHEREAS Article V of the US Constitution provides that if two-thirds of the state legislatures call for an Article V Constitutional Convention, Congress must convene one;
WHEREAS calls for an Article V Constitutional Convention remain active forever unless a state rescinds their call;
WHEREAS an Article V Constitutional Convention can approve any amendments to any part of the US Constitution or totally rewrite the US Constitution;
WHEREAS any amendments proposed by an Article V Constitutional Convention must be ratified by the legislatures of, or conventions held in, three-quarters of the states;
WHEREAS ratification could change our government in ways nobody can predict, particularly if consideration and voting on amendments is done by a convention instead of a state's legislature; and
WHEREAS twenty-nine states have outstanding calls for an Article V Constitutional Convention that have not been rescinded by them and if just five more states issue a call and no additional states rescind their calls, a Convention must be convened;
WHEREAS liberal groups such as Common Cause and conservative groups such as the John Birch Society oppose an Article V Constitutional Convention;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Jefferson County Democrats (JCD) urge the Washington State Democratic Central Committee to ask each newly elected state legislator to commit to strongly oppose any efforts in Washington to call for an Article V Constitutional Convention for as long as they hold office;
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the JCD urge the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to ask each newly elected state legislator in every state that has called for an Article V Constitutional Convention to work to rescind those calls; and
THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the JCD urge the DNC to call on each newly elected state legislator in every state to strongly oppose efforts in their states to call for an Article V Constitutional Convention as long as they hold office.
Submitted to the Jefferson County Democrats on December 21, 2018 by David Tonkin – Phone 360-385-2468, Email tonkin.david1@gmail.com.
Supporting Documentation
Lines 3-13 – Article V of the US Constitution
Read Article V at: https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution/article-v.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Five_of_the_United_States_Constitution.
Lines 19-21 – States calling for an Article V Constitutional Convention
The current list of states calling for an Article V Constitutional Convention are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming. Refer to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_applications_for_an_Article_V_Convention and to http://www.sweetliberty.org/standing_calls.htm.
Lines 23-24 – Groups opposing an Article V Constitutional Convention
According to Common Cause “The unknowns surrounding a constitutional convention pose an unacceptable risk, particularly in the current polarized political climate … Too few Americans are even aware that a constitutional convention can be called, let alone that there would be no checks on its scope … Calls for a convention are coming from right and left …” Refer to https://www.commoncause.org/resource/u-s-constitution-threatened-as-article-v-convention-movement-nears-success/ to https://www.jbs.org/con-con.
According to the John Birch Society “Since 1787, America has chosen to avoid the risk of a new convention that could rewrite our Constitution and Bill of Rights.” Refer to https://www.jbs.org/stop-a-constitutional-convention-action-tools/item/download/4934_76edf739b5012c4aa9b4b435415921ad.
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